Oh My God! I Can’t Believe I Did This.

I believe that high performers are built by their everyday choices. This newsletter is my way of sharing my journey as a student, coach as well as a community member who learns a lot from all of you.

Each edition will feature my personal collection of recommendation tools, books, stories, experiences and connections that I have formed or found over the years.

Are you ready? Fasten your seatbelt!

A fortnight ago, a friend inquired if I’d be interested in performing at her spoken word event. It’s a form of poetry recital or storytelling where spoken words become your tool of expression.

Despite my reservations, I jumped and said - Yes, of course.

However, reality crashed upon me when they announced all the ‘artists’ performing at the event. Damn! Every other performer was either a professional actor, poet, or an experienced spoken word performer.

How on earth am I going to manage this? I have never written a poem - barring some scribbles as a teenager. I have never written anything in Hindi. I have never performed a solo piece in front of an audience. And obviously, I have never been a spoken word artist!

DONE is Better than Perfect.

Sometimes, waiting to be “ready” or “perfect” means we end up waiting forever. We're all works in progress, right? There are no right or wrong decisions in life. There are decisions and there are consequences. Read this again.

I sat down and reminded myself of this tool- DONE is Better than Perfect. Watched the recently posted reel once again. With the idea of public embarrassment looming, I questioned my fears. I wasn’t a professional poet, and that was okay. The liberty to fail was mine to claim.

Instead of memorising the whole thing, I decided to read my poem. I started by telling the audience that it was my first-ever performance and asked them to forgive me if I went wrong. It lifted a huge pressure off my chest.

The performance was received very well. So many people cried as they felt deeply connected to my ‘spoken words’. I fumbled. I pronounced some Hindi words incorrectly. But at the end of the day - nothing mattered.

Share with me your stories of using these tools. It could be through an email, video, or voice note. Each week, I’ll spotlight one story, illuminating our collective path of evolution and resilience.

Love, Aditi.